Kenwood



v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. H'ENWOOD & STEPHENS.

Rice HuHer and Cleaner.

Patented July 20,1858.

n. PETERS, mwum n m Wuhinghn-JZ a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

D. HENWOOD AND J. STEPHENS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO THEMSELVES AND THOS. F. ROVLAND, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR HULLING- AND CLEANING RICE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,971, dated July 20, .1858.

T0. allgwhom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DAVID HENwoon and JAMES STEPHENS, .both of the city of Brooklyn, in the countyof Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful hlachine for ,Hulling, Scouring, and Cleaning Rice and-other Grain; and we do hereby declare that the same is described and represented in the following specifications and drawings.

chine. Fig. 2, is an elevation of one end.

Fig. 3, is an elevation .of the hulling cylinder full size; and Fig. 4:, a section of the same and Fig. 5, a plan of the top.

The nature of our invention consists in a rotating cylinder, with spiral wedge shaped grooves inits periphery, including outward and downward, surrounded by a cylinder lined with india rubber, .or some yielding substance, which is not hard enough to break much ifany of the grain, as it is rolled down around the cylinder, in the V shaped spaces between the cylinder and the india rubber that surrounds it and .hulled; the small kernels sink deeper in the V shaped spaces, so that they are rolled, and hulled, with nearly the same pressure, that the large ones receive. And in making one or more large grooves around the hulling cylinder or in the stationary lining, so as to let the kernels of grain escape from one groove as they descend,and enter another in a different position, so as to be more efi'iciently rolled and hulled, than if they descend without this chance of changing position. Also in making the top of the cylinder convex, or conical with curved wedge shaped grooves, and covering it with india rubber, or some substance that will yield so as not to break much ofothe grain, as it aids in hulling it. Also in the use of two scouringcylinders, one, within the other turning in opposite directions; the inner one covered with wire card clothing, to act upon the grain and scour it, in conjunction with the burs on the inside of the perforated sheet metal cylinder, while most or all of the substances scoured from the grain, are thrown through the perforations in the outer cylinder. Also in a fanto separate the hulls from the grain between .the hulling and scouring cylinders.

In the accompanying drawings A, is one of the front posts, A, one of the middle posts and A A, the rear posts, connected together by the bar B, girders B, B, B, and top rails B B B forming a strong frame to which most of the other parts are fastened or connected. The top rails B may be connected bytwo bars like C, and

thefraine strengthened by braces C, O.

D, is a cast iron conical cylinder, with a flange at its lower and. smallest end, large enough to cover. the opening between the rai1sB and bars C, to which it is fastened inthe position shown inthe drawing. The

cylinder D, has a circular flange at its upper end to which the concave cap D is fitted.

and fastened; which cap D, project-s down into the top of the cylinder D, to press .the india rubber lining D down against the flange on the inside of cylinder D, at the bottom, sons to hold said lining firmly in its place. The cap D, is made in the form shown in the drawing, with a hollow inverted cone projecting down from the top which receivesthe grain fromthe hopper E, throughthe openings E, in the cap, which openings. are made largest on the lower side, so that the rice or grain may not clog in de scending from the hopper E, into the inverted cone E which conducts it onto the top of the hulling cylinder F, provided with curved wedged shaped plates as shown in Figs. 3, 4c, and 5, which force the grain out, as thecylinder is turned under the india rubber lining of the disk E which aids in hulling it. The disk E is made. with a flange at each edge to hold the india rubber lining as shown in the drawing; and it is adjusted and held at the desired height by the screws G, G, in the cap D.

Thereis a lug on the top of the cap D, which is perforated from the under side for the endlof the shaft F, to turn in; the lower end=of said shaft, turns in the box F fastened ,to the base or floor. The shaft F, is turned by the gear G, acted upon by the gear G on the shaft H, which turns in boxes on the girders B, B, and may have a pulley, gear or crank applied to it, by

which it may be turned to operate the machine. The shaft F, has a screw thread on it near its upper end to which the female screw in the cylinder F, is fitted, so that by turning the cylinder, (which is made conical), it may be raised or lowered to increase or diminish the space between the outside of the cylinder F, and the india rubber lining D of the cylinder D, and adjust the space to suit the size of the kernels of rice or grain being hulled: and when so adjusted it may be firmly fastened. to the shaft by the set screw H.

The outside of the cylinder F, is scored or grooved spirally as shown in Fig. 3. These scores are about one third of an inch wide, and one eighth of an inch deep, the upper side of the score is at a right angle to the surface of the cylinder, while the lower side inclines from the upper side outward, as shown in the drawing. We have found these cylinders to work well, and do good service, when the spiral grooves were made to rise at about an angle of seventeen degrees from the base of the cylinder; and we think it an advantage to make a groove H around the cylinder about half way between the top and bottom large enough for the grain to escape from the flutes or spiral grooves, and enter others in the lower portion of the cylinder, in a different position, so as to be more effectually acted upon, than if they passed from the top to the bottom of the cylinder, in the same groove. The rice is rolled in the V shaped spaces, between the hard cylinder and the yielding lining and hulled; the small kernels sink deeper in the V shaped spaces, and are rolled with nearly the same pressure that the large kernels receive, which is a great advantage. The rice or grain after descending from between the cylinder F, and lining D falls on the inclined board I, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, from which it falls through the blast of the fan 1, into the inclined trough P, which conducts it into the end of the scouring cylinder as shown in Fig. 1, the hulls and all the light substances being separated from the grain by the blast'from the fan I, and blown out of the machine before the grain enters the scouring cylinder. The fan I, is arranged to turn in boxes fastened to the posts A, and A, and is turned by the band J from the pulley J on the shaft H, to the pulley J 2 on the fan shaft.

The outside scouring cylinder K, is made of perforated sheet metal; the lower portion a of this cylinder is represented as broken away to show the inside scouring cylinder L. Both of these cylinders are made conical and arranged to receive the grain from the trough 1 between them at the smallest end. We prefer the cylinder K, made of sheet steel, perforated with a sharp punch, either round or of some other form, so as to raise a bur on the inside to aid in scouring the grain; it may be made in two parts and joined by a hinge joint, as shown at K, and the ends fastened to the disks K and K which disks are made in the form shown in the drawing, with long hollow journals projecting from them, andfitted to turn in the boxes on the girders B, B, Fig. 1. The disk K has a flange M, extending from it and turning in toward the shaft to receive the grain from the trough I and it passes from the flange M, through the holes in the disk, one of which is shown at N, into the cylinder K, where it is scoured, as it passes along between the cylinders K, and L, which revolve in opposite directions, and then escapes from the cylinder through the hole N, in the disk K and falls into the trough N which conducts it out of the machine. The journal of the disk K extends through the box and has the pulley P, fastened to it by which the cylinder is turned in the direction of the arrow a, by a band from the pulley P, on the shaft H.

The shaft L of the cylinder L, is fitted to turn in the hollow journals of the cylinder K, and has the pulley R, fastened to it, to turn it in the direction of the arrow 7), and in the opposite direction to the cylinder K, by a band from the pulley R, on the shaft H. The cylinder L, is covered with fine wire card clothing, such as is used for carding cotton and wool, which wire teeth act on the grain, in conjunction with the bur, on the inside of cylinder K, and scour the grain; and as the cylinders both revolve in opposite directions the grain is uniformly spread between them and prevented from settling to the lower side; while the centrifugal force with the blast of air which is constantly escaping through the perforations in the cylinder K, carries out through these perforations most, or all of the matter or substances scoured from the grain, leaving it nearly or quite clean.

The machine having been constructed as above described and set in motion the rice is supplied to the hopper E, and passes down onto and around the cylinder where it is rolled in the V, or wedge shaped space between the groove in the rotating cylinder and the yielding india rubber lining of the stationary one, which india rubber lining is firm enough to remove the hulls, and yielding enough not to break much if any of the grain: which after it escapes from the huller falls through the blast of air from the fan I, which separates the loose hulls, chaff and other matter lighter than the grain, which grain descends in the trough I and passes into the cylinder K, through the holes N, where it is scoured by the action of the two cylinders and most of the scourings are thrown through the openings in the cylinder K, and the scoured and cleaned grain es- Besides it is twenty five per cent cheaper,

and will do fifteen per cent more work, and make fifty per cent less broken rice than any machine wlthln our knowledge.

WVe believe we have described and rep-.

resented the machine, which we have invented, for hulling and cleaning rice and other grain, so as to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use it, we will now state what we desire to secure by Letters Patent; to wit,

WVe claim- 1. The cylinder F, provided with wedge shaped spiral grooves inclining outward and downward, substantially as described,

' in combination with the stationary india rubber lining D or such equivalent lining, that is firm enough to hull the grain, and yielding enough not to break much of it in the process of hulling.

2. e also claim making the top of the cylinder F, convex or conical, with curved wedge shaped grooves as described, in combination with the stationary adjustable disk above it, lined with india rubber gutta perch-a, or some equivalent substance for the purpose set forth.

3. e claim a cylinder covered with wire card clothing, in combination with a cylinder of perforated sheet metal, when both are made to revolve in opposite directions, for the purposes set forth.

4. We claim the huller covered by the first claim, in combination with the scourer covered by the fourth claim, arranged and operating as herein described.

DAVID HENWOOD. JAMES STEPHENS. Witnesses:

GEO. L. OSBORN, JOHN STUART. 

